Making the Grade
by Darling Pretty
Summary: As staff at Seattle Grace High, these teachers certainly have a lot to deal with. After all, homecoming's coming up, and there are all those messy romantic entanglements to deal with. Addison/Alex. Meredith/Derek.
1. Read The Book

**Okay, so here's the deal... I'm a horrible, horrible person for starting another story when I don't have the time to update any of my current stories, let alone this one. But it MADE me write it. It did. Besides, in case you haven't noticed, every once in awhile I like to write short chapter stories. They make me happy.**

**So this all came about during liturgy at school (possibly not the best time, but inspiration is inspiration), when I was waxing nostalgic about a time a while ago when it seemed like everybody on earth was writing a story about our favorite surgeons being in high school (even me, but that wasn't my scene). And then I thought, wouldn't it be an ironic twist if, yes, it's set in high school, but they're not students, they're teachers? And that's how this came about. Plus, I think Addison would make a pretty kickass AP Lit teacher.**

**The story is dedicated to one of my besties, Morgan, for listening to me ramble endlessly, and pointing out that Meredith as a guidance councilor would be possibly the funniest, most ironic twist in the whole story.**

**Also, I don't own any of the Grey's Anatomy characters, although I have expressed a desire for Addison's wardrobe (accessories included) many a time. **

* * *

Addison sighs in frustration as she rakes a hand through her hair. "Stop acting like I've asked you to do something awful," she commands. "The only thing keeping you from understanding is that you've psyched yourself out."

A girl, Bridget Gold, raises her hand. This is probably uncharitable to even think, but of all of the kids in the class, Bridget is Addison's least favorite. The girl doesn't want to work, spends all her class time talking about the parties she went to last weekend, and expects Addison to totally carry her through the class, just like almost every other teacher has done. "But, Ms. Montgomery, Shakespeare doesn't make sense," she whines. "He, like, doesn't use words I understand."

It takes all of her willpower not to roll her eyes. "Shakespeare uses archaic language, Bridget, and it's what a dictionary is for. Or, if the dictionary takes up too much of your precious time, feel free to circle any words you don't know and ask me in class."

Bridget rolls her eyes. "Okay." She turns to her friends and murmurs under her breath, "No need to be so rude."

Addison doesn't react. She always has a Bridget Gold and there's no real way to effectively deal with that type of person. Instead, she looks up at the clock and sees that the bell is about to ring. "Okay, guys, you can pack up and go a couple of minutes early. Bridget, I need to talk to you."

Bridget slowly gets up and meanders to the front of the room, making a big show of how much she doesn't care. "Yeah?"

"Do you know what grade you're getting in this class?"

"I don't know. Maybe a C?"

Addison frowns at the way Bridget sounds like a C is the height of her capabilities. "A D. Almost an F, actually."

"What? Why?"

Addison pulls out her grade book. "You've gotten Cs on every essay you've written, you get Ds on all the reading quizzes, and you got an F on the last test."

"But I'm trying!"

"Are you?"

"Yes! You're being totally unfair! You grade too hard!"

"Bridget, most of the kids in this class get Bs and As on their essays, and you know I protect my students by adding points if nobody gets a hundred percent on tests. The issue isn't my grading."

"Yes it is! I try, I do everything you ask!"

"Bridget, you don't do the reading. Maybe if you actually picked up the book every once in awhile you'd get better scores. But, as it is, I need you to take this progress report home and get your parents to sign it."

"My mom is going to kill me!" Bridget moans, showing a rare glimpse of outwardly directed thought.

"You just need to try a little harder, and you can raise that grade easily," Addison encourages.

Unfortunately, her kindness backfires. Bridget snaps back into I Don't Care mode. "Whatever," she snaps as she snatches the paper from Addison's outstretched hand and strides out of the classroom.

Addison lays her head down on her desk as she realizes that she's going to have to hear another Why Do You Hate My Child? rant given by another Bridget Gold's Mother character. They never do believe their golden angel can do anything wrong.

0ooo0

Addison slides into a seat in the theater. She hates staff meetings, but, hey, she loves teaching and this is just part of the job.

Izzie Stevens, the art teacher, leans over. "You're late."

"So sue me," Addison whispers back. "I'm not so late that Richard or Miranda noticed."

"Ow!" someone yells from the back of the theater. Meredith Grey, one of the councilors on the staff, grimaces. "Sorry. I stubbed my toe. Sorry."

"Meredith, on the other hand, is," Addison continues, trying not to laugh.

Meredith keeps apologizing profusely as she slips into the seat next to Addison. "That was mortifying."

"Maybe you should start paying attention to where the steps are," Izzie suggests.

Meredith sticks her tongue out at her. "Who's the new guy?"

"New guy?" Addison asks. "What new guy?"

"That new guy," Cristina Yang, the calculus teacher, points out. Literally.

"Stop pointing," Addison chides. "He'll see you. Plus, it's rude."

Cristina gives Addison a look that very much says Bite Me. Izzie, sensing the tension, pronounces, "He's kind of really hot."

Addison's head whips back towards the newcomer. Izzie is so very right in this case. The new guy looks over and catches Addison's eye. She smiles and bites her lip before looking away.

"He was just totally checking you out," Meredith announces.

Addison blushes. "He was not."

"He was too," Izzie agrees.

"No, he wasn't."

"If we could all get started," Principal Webber says into the microphone. "First of all, I want to welcome you all to the monthly meeting." Everybody settles down and in for a long, tedious meeting. "Next, I want to introduce to you the newest member of our staff. Alex Karev is going to be taking over Mrs. Lee's world history classes while she is on maternity leave. He's also the new wrestling coach."

Meredith leans over to Addison. "We have a wrestling team?"

"Apparently. Who knew?"

Izzie nudges Addison. "He's a wrestler."

Addison turns a cold eye on her friend. "So?"

"So the man can move."

"If you're so interested, why don't you talk to him?"

"I'm not the one he was checking out."

"He wasn't checking me out!"

"He was checking you out," Meredith affirms apologetically.

"No, he wasn't!"

"Okay, we've established that he was checking Addison out and Izzie's either jealous or perversely interested in that fact. Now can we move on?" Cristina asks, with her signature annoyance pervading her voice.

The Chief continues to drone on about school related things, and most of the teachers tune him out. Then he gets to Homecoming and ears perk up. "I want to remind you all that the judging of the float and rally activities are based solely on merit. The seniors are in no way guaranteed to win."

There's a bit of an uproar in the room. Richard Webber is a relatively new principle and he wasn't around six years ago when the seniors lost homecoming. Life at Seattle Grace High School was absolutely miserable. For the four years when he wasn't here, homecoming was fixed so seniors always won. The fair competition is a little scary to think about.

"Also, Mr. Karev has volunteered to help supervise a float. I'm assigning him to the sophomore class, since it's the largest class."

Addison's eyes widen as both Meredith and Izzie nudge her. She always supervises a to fulfill the hours she has to serve at extracurricular activities. This year she had volunteered for none other than the sophomores.

"Oh my God, this is so perfect!" Izzie whispers.

Addison looks at her friend in amazement. Why won't she let this go? "Nothing is going to happen!" she laughs quietly.

"I bet you twenty bucks something does happen," Cristina says to Meredith.

"You're on," Meredith agrees.

Richard brings the meeting to a close, leaving the four women very much in the dark as to what the meeting was actually about.

"You're just lucky Webber hasn't decided to implement any dating policies," Cristina says.

"Nothing is going to happen!" Addison insists. "You are all pulling this out of the fact that he _looked at me_. You're being ridiculous!"

"But it could be like this grand, forbidden love!" Izzie sighs wistfully.

"You," Addison says to her friend, "need to reign in that imagination. Nothing is going happen, and even if it did, which I'm not saying there's even the remotest possibility of it happening, it wouldn't be forbidden, and I truly doubt it would be grand."

"You're no fun," Izzie pouts.

"And you're too much fun. We balance each other out."

They head out into the foyer of the theater. The four women stand in a circle, talking. "Why are you so stubborn?" Izzie asks.

"Why won't you let this go?"

"Because I want you happy."

"I am happy."

"You haven't been happy since Derek."

"I'm sorry I'm more serious since I got divorced," Addison apologizes sarcastically.

"I don't know how you do it," Meredith says.

"Do what?"

"Work with him. Every single day."

"It starts with the fact that I don't hate him. It ends with the fact that he teaches biology. Do you really think the AP Lit teacher and the Bio teacher cross paths very often?"

"I guess not," Meredith concedes.

"I'm just saying that maybe you need a fling," Izzie explains.

"A fling? Really? With someone I work with. Great idea, Izzie. That one's sure to win you the Nobel Prize."

"You need a guy."

"What I need is for you to stop pushing this. What I don't need is to give my students yet another reason to call me a whore behind my back."

"No one thinks you're a whore. Plus, that was like four years ago. Nobody from back then is still a student here."

"No, but their siblings are."

Izzie sighs. "You're right. I'm sorry, Addison."

Meredith nods, seemingly happy that the two women have stopped bickering, but Addison swears that she sees her and Izzie look at each other mischievously. "What do you two have up your sleeve?" she asks, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Nothing," they chorus. This worries Addison. She looks to see if Cristina has any idea, but Cristina has long since checked out of this conversation.

"I have to get to class," she finally says, excusing herself from the conversation.

"Okay," Izzie agrees. "I'm headed that way too, so I'll come with you."

Addison knows that Izzie's classroom is very close to hers, so she's not suspicious. Meredith and Cristina head off in the opposite direction, so they say goodbye for the moment.

As they walk away from their spot, Addison sees Alex Karev headed in their general directions. She gives him a small smile as they lock eyes. She refuses to credit the increase in her heartbeat to him.

She thinks that this encounter will just be a passing one, when, just as he's right in front of her, she feels someone step on the back of shoe and she trips. And, of course, falls straight into him. To his credit, he reaches out and steadies her.

She stares at him for a second, trying to get her bearings. "I, uh, sorry."

"No problem."

"Thanks." She pulls herself out of his arms and they stand in awkward silence for a moment. Addison looks to Izzie to help out, but Izzie is too busy looking around innocently to notice any plea for help. "Um, hi. I'm Addison Montgomery. I'm the AP Literature teacher."

She holds out her hand. He takes it. "Alex Karev. World History."

"It's nice to meet you," she says. "Um, this is my friend Izzie Stevens. She teaches art and photography."

"Hey."

"Hi," Izzie replies, pulling herself out of her innocent gaze long enough to pay enough attention to carry out a conversation.

"Actually," Addison says randomly. "We're going to be working together. I'm the other supervisor for the sophomore float."

"Cool. You should probably know that I have no idea what I'm doing," he laughs.

She laughs along with him. "Don't worry, I'll show you the ropes."

"I'm looking forward to it."

They smile at each other until Izzie clears her throat. "Well," Addison says. "I have to get to class, but I'll talk to you later."

"Wait," he says sheepishly. "Could you give me directions to room 6F? I still don't have a clue where the hell I'm going."

She laughs again. "That's the portables. You go out towards the swimming pool—you do know where the swimming pool is, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well, you know how in order to get into the pool, you have to turn left and go through the gate? Don't turn, just keep going straight and you'll see it."

"Could this school be any more confusing?" he asks rhetorically.

"If you want, we could meet after school… I can show you where your classrooms are and the fastest way to go."

"That would be good."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

"Yeah."

They stare at each other for another moment and head off in opposite directions. Izzie follows Addison, a smirk evident on her face. "You're right; absolutely nothing's going to happen."

"It's not!"

"Sure," Izzie laughs skeptically.

"Isobel Stevens, don't think for a moment that I don't know that you were the one who tripped me."

"And yet you're the one who just made a date with him after school."

"Shut up. I'm just helping him out. God knows the school's confusing enough."

"If that what helps you sleep at night."

"You're infuriating."

"Which is why we're friends."

"I'm not talking to you anymore."

"Really? We're being all of five years old?"

"I've got to go." As she says this, Addison delves into the crush of students arriving for the school day, and heads to her classroom.

* * *

**First off, you should know that I modeled SGH after my school, where teachers don't teach in the same room all day, they move around, which is why Addison would clearly need to help Alex navigate the hallways.**

**Secondly, you should know that I would really love to hear feedback on this, because... well, because I spent a lot of time on it, and I would like to know if a continuation is worthwhile.**

**-Juli-**


	2. Pop Quiz

**Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm glad you're all so interested in seeing what happens next, because, truth be told, I am too. I have a feeling this story is going to be longer than I anticipated, but I'm okay with that. The question is, are you? Anyways, I hope you like this latest chapter!**

**As always, I own nothing.**

* * *

"Okay, pop quiz time," Addison announces with a smile. "I want you to get me to the front office."

Alex frowns in concentration as he takes his first steps. He looks at Addison for confirmation, but she remains passive. "You could at least give me a hint, you know."

"And then you'd never learn," Addison retorts.

"You must be awful to have as a teacher," he teases her.

"My kids earn the grades they get," she responds. "They'll never learn if I hand them the answers. They can't rely on me forever. Just like you can't rely on me to be your personal tour guide every day. Start walking."

"Why _can't _you be my personal tour guide?" he jokes.

"What are you going to do if I'm sick? How would you get to your classes?"

He grins. "Get Izzie to help me."

Addison rolls her eyes. "Front office. Go."

He manages to get them to the front office without mishap. Addison rewards him with a smile. "Good job."

"Thanks."

"Think you have the hang of it?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Then my work here is done," she says happily. "I'm going to go. I have papers to grade."

"Wait," he blurts when she turns around to leave. "It's getting late. Do you want to grab something to eat?"

She bites her lip as she considers her options. Cristina and Meredith's bet is ringing in her ears, but what's the harm in dinner? They hardly know each other, and it's not like it's a date. In fact, it's not like he's even interested, so it's not like it matters. And besides, those papers can wait another day, and she doesn't really want to go home to her empty house. "Yeah, okay. Where do you want to go?"

0ooo0

"So what made you want to teach?" he asks later. Their quick bite to eat somehow morphed into dessert and coffee, which they are now currently enjoying.

Addison nearly spits out the bite of cake that she just took. "Wow," she says, dabbing at her mouth with her napkin after chewing and swallowing. "You really don't waste time on the small questions, do you?"

"Life's short," he explains. She gets the feeling that his explanations are consistently one or two words when possible.

"Okay… Honestly, I don't know why I want to teach. It sounds stupid, but it's just something I've always wanted to do."

"That doesn't sound stupid."

Addison laughs. "Well, it always does when everybody else has inspirational, tearjerker reasons, and I've got it's what I've always wanted to do. But what about you? Why'd you become a teacher?"

He hesitates for a moment. "You don't have to answer that, if you don't want," Addison says quickly, sensing the tension.

"No, it's okay. My history teacher sophomore year in high school was pretty much the only reason I didn't kill myself."

"Oh." They sit in silence, one that is incredibly awkward, since he's chosen to reveal something so personal less than twenty-four hours into their friendship. The funny thing is it doesn't feel wrong. She just doesn't know what to do with it. "See, I told you my reason always sounds stupid!" she finally jokes.

He smiles and she returns the favor. "I should go," she says, standing up. He stands up with her.

"I'll walk you to your car."

"That's not necessary," she declines.

"It's fine." She can sense that she's not going to get anywhere in this argument, so she starts walking.

"I had fun," she admits.

"Me too."

They walk in silence until they reach her car. "Well," she says. "If you ever get lost at school, you know where to find me."

"Yeah, thanks."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

They stand in yet another silence, but this is more charged than any of the others of the day. Finally, Addison exhales and runs a flustered hand through her hair. "Goodnight," she says and gets in her car. "I'll see you tomorrow."

She pulls out of the space and drives away, leaving him to watch her car until she turns out of the parking lot.

0ooo0

"You look tired," Izzie accuses her as she sits to eat lunch in the teachers' lounge the next day.

"I was up really late grading papers," Addison explains. This is not a lie, this is just stretching the truth. Honestly, Izzie has absolutely no need to know why she was up so late grading papers.

"Fun," Izzie replies sarcastically.

"Don't I know it," Addison responds.

Cristina and Meredith sit down at the table. "You look tired," Cristina comments, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Addison rolls her eyes. "I have four classes worth of papers to grade. Half of them aren't even worth grading; they put so little effort in. But still, I have to grade them. If you're still suspicious of my activities last night, which you are, I can provide you with an exact timetable of my evening, along with the number of papers I graded, plus a breakdown of how many As, Bs, and Cs I gave."

"Addison, snapping at us isn't going to help any," Meredith says.

Addison sighs in frustration. "Sorry, but you haven't stopped watching me since Alex Karev showed up. _Nothing _is going to happen!"

"You're the one throwing yourself at him," Cristina points out.

"I am not!"

"Addison, you literally fell into his arms. I'm pretty sure that counts as throwing yourself," Izzie says.

"You tripped me!"

"You made a date with him."

"It wasn't a date!"

"What about a date?" Cristina suddenly perks up. Gossip is her thing.

"You had a date?" Meredith asks.

"No, I didn't."

"She offered to show Alex Karev around the school," Izzie says, talking over Addison's denial. "They're already playing tour guide. If you ask me, it's maybe a week until they start playing doctor."

Addison gasps. "You're disgusting, you know that right?"

"But I'm not the one lusting after the new teacher," Izzie teases.

"Listen to me, and listen to me carefully," Addison says, dropping her voice. "Nothing is happening between me and Alex Karev. Nothing has happened and nothing will happen. Because, and please try to get this through your heads, I am not interested in him. So stop trying to set me up, because I am not interested in sleeping with Alex Karev."

She only notices Cristina snickering, Izzie looking trapped, and Meredith signaling frantically once she's done with her rant. And, without looking, she knows what about to come next. Slowly, she turns around to find none other than Alex Karev standing with a cocky smirk on his face. She's pretty sure that someone just slammed all of the air out of her lungs. It only takes a couple of seconds for her face to match her hair.

Silence envelops her as she stares at him. She has absolutely nothing to say. Finally, she manages to get out an, "Er, sorry," before fleeing the room. She doesn't notice him follow her.

"Hey, wait up," he calls.

She speeds up.

"Seriously, Addison, wait."

Pursing her lips, she turns around. "What?"

"Are you okay?"

"You mean besides the fact that I just made a total fool of myself? Peachy."

"It wasn't that bad."

"For you, maybe."

"No, it really wasn't."

She gives a dull look. "I just announced to the entire faculty that I don't want to have sex with you."

"Not the entire faculty… Just the people in the teachers' lounge."

"That's the equivalent of announcing it over the loudspeaker."

"Well, then you're screwed," he jokes.

She laughs wearily. "Pretty much."

"I swear it wasn't that bad." She laughs again, but they fall into silence. She suddenly realizes that they've managed to find the one area in the school devoid of students. "Can I tell you something?"he asks. She nods. Unexpectedly, he moves so that she's against a wall and he's very much in her space. She concentrates on breathing normally. For one second, she thinks he's going to kiss her, but instead, he says, "You were lying."

He walks away before she can respond. She leans against a wall in order to keep from collapsing.

She is so screwed.

* * *

**Here's the thing, I know I said in the summary that I don't know what other couples there are going to be. I, unlike Addison, was most definitely telling the truth. So, if you could press that little button below here and drop me a review with what couples you would want to see, I'll totally try to write the most popular requests in (assuming they aren't Alex and Izzie, because that would totally ruin my plot- I can do a smidgen of Addek, but you have to realize it would be for plot development and would disappear very quickly).**

**And, hey, if in that review you feel the need to comment on the story, well, that would be pretty nifty. Yes, i did just say nifty. My history textbook uses the word "gangsta" (in quotes too!), so please don't even try to make fun of me.**

**-Juli-**


	3. Passing Grade

**I'm back, and, as usual, not unhappy with the chapter. It's not my favorite, but it definitely gets the job done. Anyways, I don't have much to say, but thanks for reading!**

**Also, I own nothing.**

* * *

She spends the next two days avoiding Alex Karev. She isn't going to face him after their little scene in the hallway; she enjoyed his proximity _way _too much to even consider talking to him anymore. Her friends just assume that she's embarrassed about her outburst in the break room and don't bug her about it.

The weekend clears her head. She really does like talking to Alex on a purely platonic level. So what if she's the slightest bit attracted to him? That doesn't mean anything has to happen. And they're going to be supervising the sophomore's float starting this week, so it would be ridiculous for her to even think about avoiding him. They can be friends, and she can keep it totally professional.

She finds him after school on Monday. "Okay, look," she says without saying hello. "We're going to be working together for the next three weeks, and I would really prefer if we were talking during that time."

"You're the one avoiding me," he points out.

"I'm not avoiding you," she retorts. "The point is I'm not interested, okay? But I'd still like to be friends."

"Are you always this bad of a liar?"

She glares at him. "I'm not interested, but if you want to delude yourself into thinking otherwise then go right ahead."

He shakes his head and chuckles. "I'm not the delusional one."

She sighs in frustration. "Look, I have rules, okay? And one of them is no sleeping with people I work with. It doesn't matter how much I like them; I don't sleep with coworkers, okay?"

"So you admit you like me," he smirks.

"You're a pig." She turns on her heel and starts to walk away.

"Addison, you're right," he calls after her.

She turns back to face him. "About what? The fact that we should be able to talk or the fact that you're a pig?"

"The first one. Maybe both. I don't know. But you're right."

She smiles. "Thank you."

"Besides, I don't know where the hell I'm supposed to go for this float thing."

She laughs. "Come on, I'll show you."

0ooo0

The next week passes quickly. The time passes much more quickly since Addison actually starts looking forward to her after school float duty.

"Favorite poet?" Alex asks. Somehow the conversation they were having about themselves got turned into a rapid-fire question and answer session. They've yet to run out of things to talk about.

"e.e. Cummings. I don't like conformity. Favorite time period to study."

"World War II."

"Wow," she laughs. "You would."

"What?" he asks.

She shakes her head. "You just seem like a World War II sort of person."

"That doesn't make sense, Addison."

"It does if you're me."

He rolls his eyes and continues on with the interview. "Favorite quote?"

"'When there's nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire.' It's the opening of a song by Stars," she answers.

"I like it," he says.

She suddenly becomes quiet. It almost seems as if she's going to cry. "It suits me, I think."

"Why?"

She manages a small smile. "If you knew me better, you'd know how self-destructive I can be."

She stares off into space, remembering past hurts that have absolutely nothing to do with the man in front of her. "You okay?" he asks, forcing her out of her reverie.

"I'm fine," she says, shaking her head to clear it. "Favorite author?"

0ooo0

"Hey." Addison looks up from her desk at the soft greeting. She smiles when she sees Meredith standing in the doorway of her classroom.

"Hi. What's up?"

Meredith fidgets without saying anything for a moment. Addison waits patiently for her to her to find words. Finally Meredith takes a deep breath and blurts, "Izzie thinks Derek is going to ask me out."

Addison blinks. "Um, what?"

"Yeah, she thinks that he likes me, and he's going to ask me out. Normally I wouldn't believe her, but she was right about you and Alex, so I thought maybe…"

"Hold on, Izzie wasn't right about me and Alex. We're just friends."

"She said you'd say that too."

"So Izzie thinks Derek is going to ask you out," Addison says pensively.

"Is that okay with you?" Meredith asks. Addison just starts laughing. It's more of a hysterical, nervous laughter than anything, but Meredith doesn't pick up on the edge. "Just what's so funny?" she demands. "I'm trying to be nice here, Addison, and you're making it really hard. What? Is the idea of someone finding me attractive so unbelievable?"

"Of course not, Meredith," Addison giggles. "It's just that Derek…"

"What? You think he couldn't possibly love anybody but you?"

"Of course not, but-"

"Do you care or not?" Meredith snaps.

"No," Addison says slowly, "but I just-"

"Oh, I get it," Meredith cuts her off. "Even though the divorce was caused by your slutty decisions, you're the only one allowed to move on."

Addison physically flinches at Meredith's accusation. Meredith realizes that she's let her anger get the better of her and tries to fix it. "Addison, I didn't mean that."

Quietly, focusing on the desk and blinking back tears, Addison replies, "Yes you did."

"Addison, I-"

Addison cuts her off this time. "I don't care if he asks you out. I just want him happy, and if you do that, great. But right now, I just need you to leave."

"Addison, I am so, so sorry."

"Just leave me alone right now, okay?"

Meredith continues to apologize as she retreats out the door. Addison sits and tries to get a handle on her tears. Finally she does, but it's not easy. Once she's under control, she walks to meet Alex at the sophomore float.

"Hey, you okay?" he asks when he sees her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You're lying."

Addison sighs. She really hates how he's able to read her like that. "One of my friends said something cruel. Unfortunately, she was completely right."

"You want to talk about it or something?" He sounds like he's unsure about what to do, and like he would really appreciate it if they could _not_ talk about it. She smiles; he's not very good at the talking thing.

"No, I'm good, but thanks for the offer," she says.

"I'm here if you ever do, or whatever."

"Thanks," she smiles, nudging him with her shoulder. "Why are you so nice? I should set you up with Izzie. She deserves someone like you."

"I don't want to be set up with Izzie," he says quickly.

"Why not? She's smart, pretty, and funny," Addison lists, sounding like she's going to take personal offense if he doesn't come up with a pretty damn good reason why he doesn't want to date her friend.

"Because I have someone else in mind." As he says that, they lock eyes and she becomes aware that she's having problems breathing. And then, before she can even think about why that is, they're kissing and she's found her damn good reason he doesn't want to date her friend.

It takes her a moment, but she unfortunately remembers herself and pushes away. "That shouldn't have happened," she says quietly.

"What are you so afraid of?" he asks by way of a response.

"Huh?"

"What's your problem? You get scared any time there's the smallest chance you might be happy."

Addison clenches her teeth together. "There are students," she manages to get out.

"Wow, you didn't even answer. Big surprise," he says sarcastically. He rolls his eyes and starts to walk away.

"Alex, wait," she calls after him. If he hears her, he certainly doesn't act like it.

"Ouch." She doesn't even turn at the voice she knows better than her own.

"Derek, I've had a really bad day, don't make me deal with the fact that I've murdered my ex-husband too."

"So you and Alex Karev," he laughs.

"No, not me and Alex Karev," she snaps. "Really, I can't deal with you right now. Aren't you supposed to be off somewhere asking Meredith out?"

"What?"

Addison realizes her mistake too late. Now it's too late to anything about it, so she may as well disclose everything. "Izzie thinks you have a thing for Meredith."

"Does she?"

"Don't be stupid," Addison chides. "Everyone can tell you have a thing for her."

"Like everyone can tell you have a thing for Alex Karev?"

"I don't have a thing for Alex Karev. Besides, I don't sleep with people I work with."

"You slept with me," he points out.

She grins. "And I learned from that mistake."

"I don't think we were a mistake."

Her grin fades. "I don't think so either." They sit in meditative silence until Addison asks, "What are you doing here anyways? Aren't you supposed to be watching the juniors?"

Derek looks sheepish. "Well…"

"Oh my God, you're spying for the juniors!" she laughs. "You scumbag!"

"Did you just call me a scumbag?" he replies.

"I did. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Only that nobody's called me a scumbag since the ninth grade."

"Well, I just did. Deal with it." They start laughing all over again.

"I miss this," he says after awhile.

"Me too," she admits. "We used to have fun."

"We deserve to be happy, don't we?"

She looks up, surprised. "I think so. Does that mean you're asking Meredith out?"

"Does that mean you're asking Karev out?" he retorts.

"You're weirdly interested in who I'm dating."

"You asked first," he points out.

"Well, I take it back."

"You can still talk to me, you know," he tells her.

"Right," she replies awkwardly. "Now get out of here. Stop spying. Fair competition my ass."

He glares playfully at her and walks away. She bites her lip and tries to decide what to do. While she's standing, she hears someone approach. She turns to see that Alex is standing there again. "Hey," she greets him softly, trying to gauge just how angry he is.

"Was that Shepherd?" he asks.

"Um, yeah," she answers. "We talk sometimes."

"Look, about earlier…"

"No, you're right. I'm afraid," she admits. She takes a deep breath; this next statement isn't easy for her to say, but she's tired of burying her emotions, and she and Derek are really fine now. "But I don't want to be anymore."

"So, you're saying that-"

She cuts him off by pressing her lips to his. "That's what I'm saying. Don't screw it up."

* * *

**I really, really hope you enjoyed it enough to review... reviews are like presents in that they make me very happy and I love getting them!**

**-Juli-**


	4. Pratical Exam

**Argh, sorry about how long this took! I've been crazy busy what with college apps, school, and finals. This is one of those "I really should be studying right now, but inspiration has just struck" chapters. Hope you enjoy, even if it's not my best!**

**All the Christmas miracles in the world probably wouldn't end up with me owning Grey's Anatomy.**

* * *

There is a recurring theme in Addison's life. In general, what makes Addison happy causes a small uproar. This theme was first apparent when Addison was seven; spoilt child that she was, her parents had actually bought her the pony every little girl dreamed of. Suddenly every girl within a ten mile radius wanted to be her friend. In college, she had abandoned prelaw for a degree in English, gotten her teaching credential and never looked back. Her parents had practically disowned her after that stunt. A couple of years after school she agreed to marry fellow teacher, Derek Shepherd. That had nearly gotten her fired, since her boss before Richard Webber _did _have a workplace dating policy (as in, don't do it). And although ultimately it didn't make her happy, her short lived affair had earned her one big, fat, nasty divorce. Which brings us to Addison's current possible happiness—Alex Karev.

Alex Karev has never had much in his life. His parents never really wanted him, his dad beat his mom, and he had gotten out. By channeling his aggression into wrestling, he was able to prevent himself from doing something stupid. But the bottom line is that, in the end, all Alex Karev really has is wrestling. Of course, he's always been attractive to women. Something about his brooding and moodiness is like honey to a bear. They all think they could fix him. They always fail.

Alex hasn't really let Addison see his dark side yet, and, in all honesty, he plans to put that particular challenge off until the very last second. Sometimes he feels a little guilty about it, but he's surprisingly interested in keeping her around—cockiness aside, he actually _likes _her, and, though it kind of freaks him out, he doesn't want to screw things up. He needn't worry—Addison has been keeping secrets of her own.

You see, no one has thought to mention that Addison Montgomery used to be Addison Montgomery-Shepherd. It hasn't occurred to anyone that she might not have told him, and, well, she really hasn't had occasion to tell him.

In any case, they're happy, and that's all that matters. Right?

0ooo0

As she walks down the hallway, she can feel people staring at her. It makes her want to scream. She hates being at the center of Seattle Grace's rumors, but unfortunately that's where she inevitably finds herself time and time again.

She manages to work through her classes for the day, trying not to be terribly annoyed by her students' distraction. The girls are all too busy gossiping about how romantic a school romance would be, and the guys, having just rediscovered that she's not an ancient, frigid, spinster, are too busy picturing her naked to get anything useful done all day. It's possibly the most frustrating day of teaching ever. Actually, that day was the day after everyone heard about her and Derek's divorce. Then her students had wanted to know anything, and she wasn't willing to spread that story. It had gotten out anyway, and gotten so out of hand that her students were actually dividing up into Team Addison and Team Derek. That was possibly the worst, most humiliating day, but today runs a pretty close second.

After school, all she wants to do is run home and not show her face again for a good ten days. Unfortunately, she's still on float duty. Normally she would be excited; after all, a chance to hang out with Alex is never a bad thing, but now that they're… dating, or whatever they're doing, now it's something to be dreaded. She hasn't talked to him since yesterday, and it's kind of nerve racking. What if he decides this entire thing was a mistake?

She finds things to keep her busy and away from the sophomores' float area for as long as possible. Suddenly, checking her email becomes majorly important. And then she has to reply to all the emails she has. And then she needs to find her copy of _Hamlet_. Anything to keep her from going to that float.

She stalls so long, the workroom is completely empty. Then she hears the door open, and looks up to see none other than the very person she's trying to avoid. "Uh, hi," she manages to squeak, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear and making a big show of looking for her book.

"Are you going to keep avoiding me?"

"Me? Avoiding? No," she stammers unconvincingly.

"Are you done lying? Because the sooner you're over that, the sooner we can have a normal conversation."

She sighs in frustration; the last time someone was this straightforward about her lying, she had ended up sleeping with him. It has yet to be seen if this is a good thing now. "I'm not avoiding you," she insists.

"Look, if you don't want to do this, I'm not about to stop you."

She doesn't answer; it seems like a loaded statement.

She doesn't say anything, but crosses the room and kisses her anyway. Oh yeah, _that's _why she's taking this stupid risk again. They pull back for air and look at each other. Addison is the one to reclose the distance.

He deepens the kiss and all innocence melts away. They're tugging at each other's clothes before Addison remembers where they are. "Not here," she says as she pulls back, blushing. "We, uh, we have to, uh, supervise."

0ooo0

The sophomores look at them suspiciously when they approach. Addison can just see their little brains screaming "Sex!"

"Hey, Mr. Karev," a student Addison only vaguely recognizes says.

"Hey, Sarah," he replies. "How's everything coming?"

"It's all good. Our base is completely finished and decorated. Most of the stuff that goes on the float is done. We just mostly have to put everything together and we'll be done."

"Have you figured out how you're going to hang that start like you wanted?" Addison questions, referring to one of the more ambitious portions of the project.

"Oh! Hi, Ms. Montgomery," Sarah says snidely. "I didn't see you. Yeah, we did, but we could use Mr. Karev's help."

Addison smirks. Considering the fact that she's been standing in plain sight for the entire conversation, this is clearly the nameless sophomore's attempt at some sort of catty chick fight. And since there's only one thing that a sophomore would consider being catty about, Addison has to laugh. But hey, if the girl wants to get into it with her, Addison is willing to play. She scoots closer to Alex and knocks her hand against his. He takes the hint and the initiative, and instead of holding her hand as expected, he wraps an arm around her waist. She's a bit surprised, a little annoyed, and surprisingly happy about it.

Sarah fights to keep a scowl off her face. "Are you going to come or not?" she asks Alex.

"I'll be there in a minute," he replies. Sarah rolls her eyes and storms off to probably go bitch to her friends that Mr. Karev is a lot less attractive since he and Ms. Montgomery started going out. Not that they're technically going out. Actually, technically, all they have are a couple of kisses and hours of conversation, but no official date or anything. All that has truly been established is that they're attracted to one another, and that's been obvious since that first meeting, so that doesn't even come close to counting on the progress scale. "You okay?" he asks when he sees her brow furrow.

"Fine," she says ten times too fast.

The look he gives her says very clearly that he knows she's lying. She frowns, daring him to contest her. He looks away. "So, I, uh, was thinking," he says nervously. She has to hide a smile; it's the first time she's ever heard him nervous.

"You were thinking?" she prompts, hoping to keep him off his game for as long as possible. Unfortunately for her, it has the opposite effect. He's smirking cockily within seconds.

"I was going to get pizza on my way home, if you want to come."

"Erm, uh, sure," Addison stammers her acceptance. "Like at a restaurant or just delivery?"

"I was just going to pick it up on my way home," he explains.

"Oh, uh, okay," she says, trying not to be nervous that he's already inviting her back to his place.

They spend the next hour debating what kind of pizza to get and if it's worth it to rent a movie, and if so, what movie to rent. Addison slowly forgets her nerves as they slip back into their normal banter.

Finally all the kids pack up their stuff and go home. Addison and Alex resolve that she'll follow in her car, so she can leave later, and part ways.

0ooo0

When she wakes up, she finds that she's not alone like she's gotten used to in the past four years. She groans as she realizes that she slept with Alex on their first date. Yeah, that'll _really _help with her reputation as the faculty slut.

She gets up slowly, trying not to wake him up. Yeah, this next move will probably ruin any chance their burgeoning relationship has, but she's embarrassed, and, honestly, if she's this quick to jump in the sack with him, she really has no business being in a relationship anyways.

She hears him start to wake just as she reaches the door. For one second, she hesitates, contemplating staying, but then leaves before he can catch her sneaking out.

* * *

**Ooh, and now you probably hate me for that, as well as the delay. Well, as much as you hate me, I have some good news for you... The next chapter is already written, and when I feel loved enough about this chapter, you will see it as soon as I can get to a computer. So the deal is review and see what happens. I think this is a fair bargain.**

**-Juli-**


	5. On The Curve

**This is short, not wonderfully written, and doesn't seem like it ends where it's supposed to, so it's a good thing it's not the final chapter. Thanks for the reviews by the way, they made my day!**

**I own nothing.**

* * *

When threatened with seeing him at school, she takes the long ways to her classrooms so she doesn't have to deal with it. She determinedly ignores the fact that they'll have to work together after school.

At lunch, she sits with Izzie, Meredith, and Cristina, just like she used to before she got into this whole Alex mess. Izzie takes one look at her face and demands, "Spill." A glance at her face tells Addison that the woman won't take no for an answer.

"I slept with Alex," she announces quietly.

"I knew it!" Izzie exclaims excitedly.

"I don't think she's happy about it," Meredith says.

"She doesn't _look _happy about it," Cristina points out.

Izzie frowns as she comes to the same conclusion the other two women have reached. "Why aren't you happy? You should be happy right now.

Addison studies the napkin in her lap. "I snuck out. He'll probably hate me forever."

"_Why would you do that_?!" Izzie cries.

Addison shakes her head. "Because it was a mistake. I just can't… I can't," Addison struggles to come up with an ending to her sentence.

"You can't what? Be happy? Because I have news for you, Addison. You could be if you tried!"

"It's not that," Addison says hesitantly.

"It's not that?" Izzie imitates tauntingly. "Then what is it? What can't you do? Just what exactly is your problem?"

"I don't know, okay?!" Addison explodes. "I don't know why I can't seem to be happy that someone likes me for the first time since Derek, but I just can't, okay? I can't see something else fall apart! I'm not strong enough."

Izzie looks sorry that she pushed it so far. "Addison, I'm sorry," she apologizes.

"No, it's okay," Addison says, cooling down. "I'm sorry I blew up at you." She looks over at Meredith and Cristina, who both look like she could go off again at any moment.

"Are you going to talk to Alex again?" Meredith asks timidly.

"I don't think so."

"Aren't you working with him after school?" Cristina points out.

"I'll deal with it as I come to it." All three women look at her like she's crazy, and they're probably right.

"It might not be a bad idea for you to have a guy," Meredith comments, using her counselor voice. "Get back in the saddle or whatever."

Addison glares at her. "No offense, Mer, but you're a high school guidance counselor, and since I'm not trying to get into college, I'm not really all that interested in your input."

Meredith looks hurt, but then remembers that just two days ago she had called Addison a slut and can't really complain. "It was just a suggestion," she says.

Addison rolls her eyes and gathers her trash to throw away. "I'm not going to sleep with him to make myself feel better," she asserts.

"No, you already did that," Cristina says. Addison glares at her and storms off to her next class.

0ooo0

It's ten times harder to hide from him after school today, since he's found her hiding place in the faculty workroom. It only takes him a couple of minutes to discover her. She takes one look at him, gathers up her stuff and starts to walk away.

"Really, you're doing this?" he asks her.

"Doing what? I'm not doing anything," Addison insists placidly.

"So you've just miraculously managed to avoid seeing me all day?"

"Alex, really, I'm sorry, but I have stuff to do. I'm really busy," she says.

"You do realize that you're going to have to sit with me for the next three hours, right?" he reminds her.

"Will you just leave me alone?!" she snaps.

Suddenly his placid, teasing expression is gone, replaced by one of pure anger. "Really?" he asks incredulously. "You're getting mad at me? You sneak out of my apartment and _you're _the one getting mad at _me_? That's so messed up, Addison! You're the one who keeps giving mixed signals. If anything, I should be pissed at you. But for some stupid reason, I keep chasing you, hoping maybe you'll quit and make up your mind, but you don't. You just keep freaking out and I didn't do anything to deserve it. So you don't get to be angry at me. You don't get to pretend this is my fault, because this is all you."

She stares at him in silence for what seems like an eternity. "I- I'm sorry, Alex," she whispers eventually.

He nods. "I'm going to grab some food from the cafeteria. You can either come with me or you can go grade papers or whatever. I don't care. But I'm done playing games, so you need to make a choice." He waits for a response but strides off when he doesn't get one.

She tries not to cry as she watches his retreating back.

0ooo0

Ten minutes later, she comes to a decision, for real this time. The more she thinks about it, the more she realizes that she's actually close to _happy _for the first time in four years, and that due to him. It's not something she should give up.

She finds him in the cafeteria, sitting at a table. He looks up when she approaches. "You're right," she says. "You deserve better."

He catches her eye. "I don't want better."

"Which is good," she replies nervously, "because I'm not." He nods, but doesn't say anything. "I'm freaking out," she confides to fill the empty air. "I just… I don't know where to go from here."

The smirk she knows so well reappears. "It's not that difficult. Just don't think about, okay? Trust me."

Addison bites her lip. "Okay," she agrees. They smile at each other and Addison kisses him on the cheek. "Thanks for putting up with my neurosis. Not many people do."

He laughs and kisses her lips. She doesn't care that they're in the middle of the cafeteria.

* * *

**Yay, a happy ending. That's exciting. I wish it would last...**

**Anyways, you know that reviews are like pretty much the only thing that convinces me to write when I'm not in the mood, right? And believe me, at the moment, the mood is not present. So I would suggest reviews if you want to see the next chapter in a timely fashion. Just saying.**

**-Juli-**


	6. Failing Grade

**I would just like to point out that this is my second update today. You don't have to be proud of me, but I am. Well, anyways, I hope you enjoy drama.**

**I own nothing.**

* * *

For a week, there is a tenuous, fragile sort of happiness hanging around SGHS. Addison is a little distracted with her happiness, and tends to forget things like reading quizzes on her desk in the teacher workroom. And while she never lets her glee effect how she teaches, she's even more fun to have in class now than before. If she was a good teacher before Alex, she's a great teacher now. He assigns less homework to his sophomores, which makes _them _happy, since it is Spirit Week. Addison rarely leaves his side during the festivities.

Derek and Meredith go on their first date, and while Addison is nowhere near ready to hear all the sordid details, she is really happy for them, and the fact that they're happy spreads throughout the school. The entire campus seems to be enveloped in a giant cloud of bliss. In fact, the only dark spot is the Dragon Lady (also known as Cristina Yang), who, legend has it, wouldn't blink an eye if aliens landed on campus and claimed to be her ancestors.

Addison walks down the hallway with Izzie, discussing weekend plans. They're having an intense debate on what movie to go see on their Girls' Day Saturday when it happens. It's not as if she would ever mistake that face. The second she spots him, she tugs Izzie into the first empty classroom she sees.

"Ow, what the hell?" Izzie asks, rubbing her arm where Addison's grip had practically cut off circulation.

Addison leans with her back against the door, locking it and simultaneously banging her head against it. "Mark's here," she announces.

"Mark? Mark who?" Izzie concentrating, trying to remember why the name rings a bell. Her eyes widen as she hits the jackpot. "Wait, not _Mark _Mark! _That _Mark?"

Addison groans. "_That _Mark. What the hell is he doing here? Why is here?"

"Doesn't he teach at Mercy?" Izzie inquires.

"Coach," Addison replies miserably. "He's their football coach. What is he doing here? I can't have him here. Why would he come here? It doesn't make sense."

"There's a couple of ways to find that out," Izzie says. "But none of them involve locking ourselves in a classroom."

"Izzie, I can't do this. I can't look at the man who broke up my marriage and pretend to be fine. I can't do it."

"Who said anything about looking at him? I thought we'd go ask Cristina. She always knows what's going on."

"Oh."

"Come on." Izzie yanks her friend out of the classroom and starts pulling her down the hallway. Addison is on edge the entire time, frantically searching for any sign of Mark Sloan. Thankfully, she doesn't.

Cristina is sitting in the teacher workroom, grading papers, grumbling to herself. "You'd think sitting in class for forty-five minutes five days a week, they'd learn _something, _even if only through osmosis. Idiots. God, look at these." She holds up papers filled with red marks.

"What's Mark Sloan doing here?" Izzie asks.

Cristina's face lights up as she realizes that she has the chance to spread her knowledge. "Webber's hiring him to coach the football team."

Addison feels faint. "W-why?" she stammers.

"Because our football team sucks?" Cristina says in that way that suggests a monkey could have figured that out. "And Mark Sloan has coached Mercy's team to the state championship every year he's been there? And people only fund winners?"

"We're a private school. We don't need funding. That's the reason the tuition is so freaking expensive, so we don't need funding," Addison rants.

"Then Maybe Webber is hoping to steal the kids who would go to Mercy for the football."

Addison practically screams. "I can't do this," she says. "I'm not. I can't. I won't."

"Relax," Izzie orders. Addison glares at her so called friend and storms out of the classroom.

0ooo0

After school she sits down next to her boyfriend, expecting a smile, maybe a kiss. Not what she gets. He stands up. "Who's Mark Sloan?" he asks.

"W-what?" she stammers. "Why would you ask me that?"

"People tend to talk when the guy who broke up their coworkers' marriage shows up."

Addison blinks. "What?"

"You didn't mention you'd been married," he says quietly. She wishes he'd get mad. If he got mad, she could get mad back. She wouldn't have to feel awful and guilty.

"No," she admits. "I didn't."

"What the hell, Addison? You'd think that maybe you'd have the time to mention something like that."

"Alex-" she tries to say something to diffuse the situation, but he interrupts her.

"No, Addison. I've put up with your crap, but this… this is the last straw." Before she has a chance to respond, to beg for him to give her another chance, he's gone.

"Who's he?" She whips around to see the very man she's been avoiding all day standing behind her.

"What are you doing here?" she asks.

"Wow, no hello, no anything. I wasn't expecting a parade, but common courtesy would be nice."

"I'm serious, Mark, why are you here?"

"You tell me who that was; I'll tell you what I'm doing here."

She rolls her eyes. "You know what? I don't care what you're doing here. All I care about is that you leave."

"See, now, I can't do that. I just signed a contract." He gives her a smile that she remembers so well. "We're going to be working together from now on. So who was he?"

Addison groans. "I'm not doing this," she says. "You need to leave. Now."

"And I'm not going," he replies easily. "I missed you."

"Don't," she insists, holding up a hand. "Don't start that again."

"What, telling the truth?"

"Mark, I mean it. I meant it four years ago and I mean it now. We're done. It was a mistake, it never should have happened."

"See, your words say no, but your eyes say yes," he grins. "You've always had a thing for me, Addison. You always have and you always will. And the sooner you realize that, the sooner you'll realize that we just had bad timing."

"You broke up my marriage, Mark!" she exclaims. "Bad timing, my ass!"

"Okay, so that was an understatement. But you have to admit, we always were good together."

"Mark, go away," she says for what feels like the eighty millionth time today.

"I can't go away. I don't want to go away. I've given you all the space you've wanted, because I got that you were still hurting over the divorce. But it's been four years. I've waited for you for four years."

"If by waiting for me, you mean you've whored around with everything that passes by in a skirt, then yeah, sure, you've waited for me. Don't look so surprised, Mark. It may have been four years, but you haven't changed a bit. I know you, Mark, I've known you since college. And I still know that you're not good for me. So just leave me alone."

"You're not thinking straight right now, I get that. It's not easy having me show up after all these years. But I'm not going to leave you alone. Since you've known me since college, you should know that."

"Hey, Mark?" she says in a last ditch attempt to get away from the man.

"Yeah?"

"The guy you saw walking away?"

"Yeah?"

"He's my boyfriend."

She saunters off before he can come up with something to say. Although she keeps her body language confident, she frowns.

She really hopes she didn't just tell a lie.

0ooo0

She finds him in the weight room, working out at a pace that probably isn't safe. When he looks up and sees her, he gets up to leave. "Wait," she speaks out, her voice echoing slightly in the large room. "Let me explain. Then you can hate me."

He doesn't say anything, but at least he turns back and crosses his arms. She assumes that's a sign for her to continue.

"I didn't tell you because it was nice, you not knowing. I know that's really selfish of me, and you have every right to be angry at me. But it was just nice having someone who didn't know the story. It was nice not having to worry about what you really thought about me."

"What I really thought about you?" he asks.

"If I tell you the story, it's going to change your entire opinion of me," she tells him. "If I tell you, you're going to hate me. Everybody does."

"Izzie and Meredith don't," he points out.

"They don't count. They're my best friends. They have to like me no matter what I do. You, on the other hand, are under no such obligation."

He sighs. She can tell he's trying to fight the urge to comfort her; it only makes her like him all the more. "It can't have been that bad," he finally says, losing the battle with himself.

"I cheated on my husband. With Mark," she admits bluntly. She's always been more of a rip the band-aid off sort of girl. "Derek walked in on us."

There's silence as he processes this information. Finally, she works up the courage to offer, "There's more to it than that, but that's the worst of it. I can tell you the entire story, if you want."

He nods and sits down on a bench. She sits down beside him. "I met Derek at school. He was best friends with Mark. They always had been friends. I started dating Derek and we ended up getting married," she explains, trying to gloss over the romantic part of things, hoping not to remind him that for a month she left out the part her life where she was married. "We were great for a couple years, and then he started getting distant. I… we were trying to get pregnant, but it wasn't working. He was frustrated, I guess. I don't know. All I know is that after a year, he was barely at home. He came home to sleep, and he didn't talk to me when he was there. You know what he did for our fifth wedding anniversary? He went camping with a couple of friends. I stayed home. Right around then, Mark showed up again. We had been close in school so we started to do things together again. He treated me… he treated me like I wanted Derek to be treating me. He took me out to lunch and he brought me little gifts. I guess… I guess I should have noticed that he had feelings for me, but I didn't. It was just so nice to have _someone _paying attention to me."

She stops to wipe a tear away and sneak a look over at him. He doesn't look like he's about to forgive her, but he doesn't look like he hates her either. She takes a deep breath and keeps going. "Derek completely forgot about our sixth anniversary. He went out with his friends. Mark invited himself over and we watched movies all day. Then, when he was going to leave, I gave him a hug. When I looked up, I just wanted so badly to hurt Derek like he had been hurting me. I don't know. So I kissed Mark. One thing led to another… The next thing I knew, Derek was walking out of our house. I begged him to stay and work things out, but he didn't. He asked for a divorce the next day. I didn't know what to do, so I gave it to him. I stayed with Mark for a month after my divorce. I had to know I didn't give up my life for a fling. I was going to break up with him when I walked in on him and his student teacher. It gave me the excuse I needed, and I left him. That was four years ago."

Alex nods. He stays silent. "I didn't tell you because I loved how it was with you. You make me feel like I'm actually okay, like I'm actually worth something, and I didn't want to change that. I thought everything would change if you knew. I was going to tell you eventually, but I didn't want to screw things up with you too," Addison explains.

"You should have told me," Alex says. "It wouldn't have changed my mind."

Addison looks up hopefully. "You're not mad?" she asks hopefully.

"I'm furious," he responds. "But that story wouldn't have changed how I felt about you. The fact that you thought you had to lie to me does."

He gets up and walks away. She stays sitting, staring at her hands, feeling the prickle of unshed tears behind her eyes.

* * *

**Oh God, you hate me now, don't you? Please don't hate me. But IF you hate me, you can tell me so in a review! :)**

**-Juli-**


	7. Retake Test

**I'm really glad you all didn't hate me after last chapter. Too bad I seem to have developed a taste for making you hate me. But be assured that I still love you all for reviewing! And I really appreciate the fact that you have so much faith in me (then again, I DO only right Addison and Alex as you pointed out).**

**I own nothing.**

* * *

She stares at the floor of the weight room for what seems like forever. She doesn't move, it doesn't even feel like she blinks. She doesn't want to try to get up, because she's frightened that if she tries, she'll find that him leaving her has leeched all her strength. She's terrified that she'll try to get up and she won't be able to move even a finger, or maybe her legs will give out.

She hears the door open and close. With what feels like the only bit of control she has, she looks up. When she does, she wishes she hadn't. She wishes she had the strength to get up and walk away. But instead, she just sits motionlessly as Mark Sloan crosses to sit down beside her. "Go away, Mark," she whispers, not trusting herself to speak any louder without her voice cracking.

"Nope," he says lightheartedly. She looks up and feels the tears start to fall. She curses herself for not having more power over herself. "Hey, it's okay," he says, sounding surprised. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be fine."

'No, Mark! No, it's not okay!" she cries. "It's not okay and it won't be fine!"

"Addison," he says, wrapping an arm around her. She thinks about struggling, but the prospect seems exhausting. "You're overreacting. Whatever happened couldn't have been that bad."

"How can you say that? You don't even know what happened!"

He looks at her. "Because I know you. And I know that anything you could have possibly done isn't that bad at all."

She looks at him, and just wants to shock him. There is something about this man that just makes her want to do stupid things. "I didn't tell my boyfriend I was married to his coworker."

She gives him a look that dares him to find a way to make that sound okay. "Never mind," he replies. "You're screwed."

"Mark!" she exclaims and almost giggles. Almost.

"So what happened?" he asks.

"You don't care," she points out. "You just want to know if I still have a boyfriend."

"That's partially true," he agrees, using that damn smile she wishes she could hate. "But I actually care about you being okay, and that's the bigger motivation."

She locks eyes with him, trying to decide how big of a mistake she wants to make. "He hates me," she admits quietly. "He's probably never going to talk to me again and he has every right."

"Addie," he says, pulling her closer. She knows this is stupid, she knows that she's giving the stupidest decision of her life a run for its money, and yet she rests her head on his shoulder, letting her overwhelming desire to feel anything but alone make her decisions. "It'll be okay. Promise."

"You don't know that," she says miserably.

"I'll make sure it does," he promises.

She raises an eyebrow cynically. "How? By making me feel like my only option is to sleep with you and making everything worse?"

He laughs. "I was going to offer to take you to dinner and cheer you up, but your version works too."

She starts to get up. "I don't think that's a good idea," she says apologetically.

"So we can't even be friends?" he asks, standing next to her.

She turns to look at him. "I cheated with you, you cheated on me. Where is there possibly room for us to be friends, Mark? There's too much baggage and stuff."

"So it'll be work. I don't care." He pulls out the smile again.

"It's not a good idea," she repeats. With a sad smile, she hugs him. "I'm sorry."

She hears the door open and whips around. Derek is standing there and she has the biggest feeling of déjà vu. His face may as well have been photocopied from the moment he walked in on them the first time. He turns around and storms out, just like last time.

She disregards the fact that she still has Mark Sloan to deal with, and chases after him. Just like last time. "Derek, wait," she calls down the hallway. Her voice echoes eerily. He keeps walking. "Derek, please," she pleads.

Finally, he turns around, just as her jogging put her within a distance that she can use her normal voice at. "I know how that must have looked," she starts.

"Does Alex know?" he snaps.

"Does he know what?" she asks, perplexed.

"Does he know that you're cheating on him? With the same man you cheated on me with, no less. God, Addison, I didn't think you were that tacky."

All at once, the emotions of the day threaten to overwhelm her and she loses it. "Shut the hell up, Derek! Just shut up!" she yells. "You have no idea what you're talking about, so just shut up!"

He looks taken aback, like he's trying to decide whether to calm her down or deal with the fact that she daresto speak to him like this. "Addison-" he begins, but Addison cuts him out.

"No, Derek, you listen to me. You were gone. You weren't there for two years, but I stuck it out. I stuck it out because I kept thinking it was just a phase, that one day you would wake up and realize that you still loved me. Hell, I would have settled for you just waking up and realizing you still _liked _me. But you didn't. You just kept retreating and you didn't even notice. You just gave up. I had to do _something_!" He stares dumbfounded, and she calms down as she continues. "I'm not saying I went about it the right way, but I had to do something to make you notice me."

"Addison-"

And for your information," she interrupts him. "I'm not cheating on Alex. I'm not seeing Mark, I'm not going to be seeing Mark, and you have no right to assume that I am. And anyways, even if I were, Alex already hates me anyways. So you can just shut up."

"Addison!" Derek yells over her rant. "My turn now." Addison's mouth opens as if she's going to say something, but she hastily closes her mouth when he glares at her. "I knew."

"Huh?"

"I knew that I was giving up. I just didn't know how to fix it," he admitted. "And then you and Mark… I was angry. But not just at you. I was mad at me for making it happen."

Addison gulps as she realizes the consequence in his words. "What does that mean?" she asks quietly.

"I'm saying that you thought I didn't love you and that wasn't true. I didn't just stop loving you. Not when I walked in on you and Mark, and not before then either."

"What does that mean?" Addison repeats.

"It means that I know we're over, but I just want you to know that I'm here for you."

Panic enters Addison's eyes. "No, no, no," she says. "We were just getting over all of this, Derek. Now is _not _a good time to be doing this! Besides, you're dating Meredith!"

He laughs nervously. "Is _that _what you thought I meant? No, no. No. I just meant I want you happy," he explains. "And if what makes you happy is Alex Karev, then I'm willing to do anything I can to help you out."

"Right," she laughs. They stare at each other for a second, and she really hopes that his explanation is the truth. She doesn't think she could deal with digging up those feelings. Not again, not after all this time.

* * *

**Still don't hate me?**

**-Juli-**


	8. Class Reunion

**One more chapter for you! Delilah and I have been quite busy, let me tell you. Anyways, I'm hoping that I'll be able to get most of my stories updated once more before Tuesday (school starts again). But savor these updates, just in case. This little update-o-rama will not last past Tuesday, I can promise you that.**

**I own nothing.**

* * *

The next day, Addison does something unprecedented. Or, at least, it's unprecedented for her. The next day, Addison calls in sick. She's never felt healthier, but she can't face Mark and Derek, and she most certainly can't face Alex. So, although she feels the deception in her stomach, she calls in sick.

Happily, TV Land is playing an _I Love Lucy _marathon, so at least she can laugh while she's feeling guilty for not going and teaching. She sits and watches Lucy get into the craziest situations while she grades papers. Normally she'd feel badly about half-assed grading, but since most of her students seemed to have half-assed their papers, she doesn't feel too horrible.

By the time three o'clock rolls around, she's almost managed to completely drown her guilt and sorrow in ice cream and Lucille Ball. Then the doorbell rings.

She sighs, throwing the blanket she's wrapped around herself onto the couch. When she opens the door, she's practically thrown down by Izzie muscling her way through the door. "You're not sick, are you?" Izzie accuses her.

Addison looks at her with sad eyes. "No."

"Oh my God, are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she says unconvincingly.

"Seriously, don't lie. What's wrong? What's going on? Does it have anything to do with Mark?"

Addison feels the same urge from yesterday overtake her. She just really wants to shut Izzie up. "Alex broke up with me."

"_What_?!" Izzie screeches. "Why?"

Addison studies the floor as if she's trying to memorize the pattern of the carpet. "He didn't know I was married. Then Mark showed up."

"You didn't tell him you were married?"

"Hadn't gotten around to it and nobody told him before. He found out yesterday, but not from me."

"Did you guys talk? Or did he just break up with you because of it?"

"We talked," Addison sighs. As she does, she collapses onto the couch, giving the illusion that her breath had been the only thing keeping her upright, and now that's gone. "I told him everything."

"Did he get mad about the affair?"

Addison glares at her friend. "One night stand. It was a one night stand. I just happened to live with him after the divorce. But I only technically cheated on Derek once. And no, he didn't. He didn't care about that at all. All he cared about was the fact that I hadn't told him. And he's right to hate me for that."

"Yeah, he is," Izzie agrees. "But that doesn't mean he's right to break up with you."

Addison feels a blush creep up her neck. "He didn't actually technically break up with me. But he may as well have. And I wouldn't blame him."

"So you're not technically broken up, but you chose to spend all day wallowing, as if you were?"

"I'm not wallowing," Addison defends herself.

Izzie sweeps her glance over the empty carton of ice cream, the _I Love Lucy _reruns, and the pajamas that Addison hasn't changed out of. "You're wallowing," she pronounces. "And I hate you for it. I had to sub one of your classes. I don't _do _English, Addison. I teach kids how to paint pretty pictures, not how to find the symbolism in _Hamlet_! And then it turns out that you're not even sick, you're just wallowing in your misery. Not fair."

"I'm sorry, Iz," Addison apologizes. "I just… I couldn't face everyone. Not today."

"It's okay. Assuming I can count on you coming in tomorrow. I don't want to deal with your little AP monsters again. They're all probably smarter than me."

Addison laughs. For the first time that day, it's not the mechanical laugh that comes from watching something that is supposed to be funny. "I'll be there."

"Good," Izzie replies, a plan forming in her head. But the plan involves talking to her friend's boyfriend (and he _is _technically still her boyfriend) before her friend gets to school tomorrow. Thank God for Homecoming week. Izzie quickly makes her excuses and leaves.

0ooo0

Alex would never admit it, but he's hated the last twenty-four hours. He feels badly about just walking out on Addison when she was clearly having such a terrible day. But she should have told him. That's not something you lie to your boyfriend about. Not that he'd asked, but, still, she should have said something.

Then she wasn't at school today, so he hadn't been able to even see her, even if only to snub her. It's not fair. Somehow she just keeps managing to make him think about her. Now she won't get out of his head and she's not around for him to take it out on.

He sits, watching the sophomores putting their float together. They've managed to figure out that he's in a pissy mood, so nobody has come up to talk to him. So when he hears the footsteps approaching from behind, he's not too worried. The entire school has figured out not to talk to him.

That's why when Izzie Stevens taps on his shoulder and asks, "What are you doing?", he practically jumps out of his skin.

She asks again. He answers, "Chaperoning."

She glares. "That's not what I mean, and you know it. I'm talking about Addison."

He doesn't answer. And when he doesn't answer, Izzie gets way into his personal space. When he first met her, he never would have thought the art teacher could be so intimidating. "Let me make something very clear. I get where you're coming from. I do. I'm not saying what she did was right. You have every right to be mad. But Addison Montgomery is my best friend. If you break her heart, I _will_ break your face."

"What?" he stammers.

"Do you know what you did? She spent the day at home, watching _I Love Lucy _rerun, eating ice cream, and acting like you've completely broken up with her. You haven't broken up with her, have you?"

"What? No!" he exclaims. "I didn't… I'm not… I mean… I don't want to _break up_ with her!"

"Y-you don't?"

"No!" he scoffs. "I was just… I was mad. I'm still mad. But I don't… No."

Izzie eyes narrow as she listens to him. "She's convinced you hate her."

"I don't," he answers.

"You have to talk to her!" Izzie insists.

He stays silent, even though he wants nothing more than to talk to the redhead. "You have to!" Izzie repeats. Once again, he says nothing. She sighs, "I get it, you're mad. She screwed up. But that just means you need to talk and work things out."

"I don't know."

"Tomorrow. She'll be back at school, and you're going to talk to her."

As Izzie glares down at him, hands on hips, he gets the feeling that what Izzie wants, Izzie gets.

0ooo0

Addison takes a deep breath as she enters her first class of the day. The hard part isn't going to be avoiding the men in her life. The hard part is going to be trying to teach without letting her current heartbreak show.

"Ms. Montgomery, where were you yesterday?" is the first thing out of half her students' mouths. The other half don't care enough to be bothered to ask.

"I wasn't feeling well," she answers. "I'm sorry that I disappeared for a day. What did you guys do?"

"We just had a reading day," Greg answers. Greg always answers her questions. He's got the biggest crush on her and he's always trying to get her to notice him.

"Oh. Okay. So where are you guys now? You have to be up to Act Four by Monday, right?"

"Ms. Montgomery," Lisa groans. "It's Homecoming week. We don't have time to read."

"I gave you the reading schedule back when we started the book. Homecoming week is on there. You've known. Plus, you had a reading day yesterday. I don't see any reason you can't complete it," Addison snaps. She sees the stricken looks on her students' faces. She rarely ever loses her temper with her students, and she hasn't lost her temper at all this year. She sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry. I'm just still not feeling really well."

She's about to continue apologizing when the door opens. She stops cold when she sees Alex walk through the door. "Can I talk to you?" he asks.

"I'm in the middle of class," she responds without thinking. She never lets anything interrupt class.

"It's important," he replies.

"Go ahead, Ms. Montgomery," Lisa says. "We'll just get some more reading done. That way we _can _be to Act Four by Monday."

Addison blinks as her other students nod their approval of this plan. "O-okay," she agrees. He holds the door open for her and closes it behind them.

Lisa gets up the second the door closes. "Aren't you going to read?" Greg asks.

"Hell no," she responds. "I'm going to see what happens."

0ooo0

She crosses her arms as she leans against the wall outside the classroom. "I thought you were mad at me," she says.

"I am," he replies.

"So, what?" she snaps. "You pulled me out of class to yell at me?"

"No," he replies.

"Then what are we doing?" she asks, pushing off the wall and starting to head back to her classroom. "I have a class to teach."

"Addison," he says. Grudgingly, she turns around. "I'm trying to say something here."

"What?"

"If you have _any _other secrets, I want to know now."

"What?"

"Is there anything else… I don't know, an adulterous love-child or something that I don't know about? Because if this is going to work, I need to know."

She stares at him as if he's just sprouted two heads. "Um, no," she says. "That's pretty much it."

"Good," he nods.

They stand in silence for a moment. "I'm really sorry," she says quietly. "I just wasn't… I don't know… You know, you're the first person I've dated since Mark."

"Oh," he says. She almost wishes she hadn't said that, because he looks scared by this revelation.

"I'm just not… I don't exactly know how to do this whole relationship thing," she explains. "I keep second guessing myself because I'm scared to screw up."

He smiles. "You'll figure it out," he comforts her.

"So where does this leave us?" she asks.

"I have to chaperone the dance tomorrow. Do you want to go with me?"

She smiles. "You want me to be your date to the school dance? This is giving me flashbacks to junior year."

"Is that a yes?"

"That's a yes," she confirms. She leans in tentatively and hugs him. He takes the opportunity to kiss her.

She smiles blissfully when they separate. "Okay," she says. "I have a class to teach."

He nods and she returns to the classroom. There's a suspicious shuffling, but when she opens the door every student is in their desks, reading, so she doesn't say anything, even though she's certain they were all trying to catch a glimpse of her and Alex through the glass not ten seconds ago.

* * *

**Yay! I love reuniting people. It makes me happy. I hope it makes you happy too. Happy enough to review! (*Cough, cough, hack, hack*)**

**I may have written this entire chapter because I just wanted Izzie to say "break her heart, I will break your face". Just saying it might have happened that way...**

**-Juli-**


	9. Homecoming: Part I

**Sorry this is so short, but the dance is going to be in three parts, and this is just the first. So enjoy!**

**I don't own anything.**

* * *

While driving home from school, Addison practically has a heart attack when she realizes that SGHS has a policy regarding the dress code of chaperones—mainly that they have to be dressed nicely too. And that means she has to find a dress. Fabulous.

The second she gets home, she calls Izzie. "Addison? What's up?"

"How would you feel about a run to the mall?"

0ooo0

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Izzie asks, glancing around.

"I need a dress," Addison explains. "Alex asked me to help chaperone homecoming."

"You guys are going to a dance? How very… high school of you." Addison glares at her friend. "No, it's cute," Izzie amends. "It's adorable that he asked you to a dance."

"But now I need a dress and I don't have anything and why is dress shopping so stressful?" Addison rants, holding another dress up to her body.

Izzie pulls a dress off the rack and hands it to Addison. "Try this one on. And I think it's sweet that you care so much about what you wear."

Addison shoots her another frown. "I don't care. I just want to look nice. That's not a crime, is it?"

"It's not a crime, but not trying on this dress is," Izzie answers, handing her yet another dress.

Addison glances at the red material. "I don't think it's exactly-"

"Shut up," Izzie commands. "You're trying on that dress." Addison rolls her eyes, but she knows that there's absolutely no point in resisting.

She grabs a couple more dresses and heads to the dressing rooms. She tries all of them on, putting off the one Izzie chose for her until the end. Not a single one of them catches her interest. Sighing, she pulls the red dress over her head.

Oh. My. God.

The dress looks stunning. More than stunning. It looks like it was made for her. She can hear Izzie gloating already.

She walks apprehensively out to model for Izzie. Her friend's mouth promptly drops open, then quickly forms a grin. "Oh, you are so getting laid!" she comments. "In fact, you might not even make it to the dance. Maybe you should wear a potato sack instead."

"So you think I should get it?"

"Hell yeah!"

"It's not too much?" she asks uncertainly.

"Addison, if you don't get that dress I'll be forced to kill you."

"That good, huh?"

"That good."

0ooo0

Why did she agree to this? A dance? Seriously? Since when was a dance an acceptable date for anyone over the age of seventeen?

And why did she agree to let him pick her up. She has a car and a license. She's perfectly capable of driving herself to the dance.

She tugs nervously at the hem of her dress. The doorbell rings and she sighs in relief. She pulls the door open. "Hey," she smiles. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

"Wow, you look… wow," Alex says, taking in her softly curled hair and miles of bare leg.

"Thanks," she replies, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Just let me grab my coat."

"Okay," he agrees. She smiles because she can feel his eyes follow her. She feels gorgeous.

"So what does looking wow mean anyways?" she asks as she returns. "I'm assuming it's a good thing."

"It's definitely a good thing," he murmurs, slipping an arm around her waist.

"Izzie picked out the dress."

"Remind me to thank her." Using the arm around her waist, he pulls her in for a kiss.

Addison pries herself away. "We have to chaperone," she says. "And we're never going to make it out the front door if you keep heading in that direction."

"What if I don't want to make it out of the front door?'

"Then don't be surprised if Richard walks in on us because he's decided to hunt you down to yell at you," she laughs. "Come on, let's go yell at kids to leave room for the Holy Spirit."

0ooo0

"Holy crap, Ms. Montgomery!" Lisa exclaims when she walks up to where Addison has been roped into checking student ids. "You look hot!"

Addison laughs. "I like your dress, Lisa," she says.

"I love yours! Seriously. I wish I could pull off that color!"

'Have a good time tonight, Lisa," Addison cuts in before she starts to blush.

"You too."

"She's right, you know."

Addison sighs as she turns around. "Go away, Mark."

"Can't. I'm stuck checking ids too."

"I don't want you here," Addison snaps, not just talking about this moment.

"Addison, at some point you're going to have to realize that we're never going to be over."

"Mark, if you want to keep telling yourself that, you have that right. But I'm not going to agree."

She ignores him for the next half an hour. When the doors finally close, she goes to find Alex. She finds him in the gym, as far away from the speakers as possible. She's glad. Anywhere within ten feet of those things is the equivalent of just sticking something sharp in your ear and popping your eardrum.

He grins when he sees her. "I was wondering where you were," he admits, yelling over the music.

"What?" she yells back.

He contemplates trying to repeat his statement, but it seems futile so he doesn't. Instead, he grabs her hand and pulls her within lip range.

"Leave room for the Holy Spirit!" Bridget Gold screams over the music, tapping Addison on the shoulder. She walks away with a smug grin.

Addison pulls back. _Oh, that girl is so failing my class_, she thinks wickedly.

"You should fail her," Alex suggests.

"Good idea!"

He laughs and kisses her again. They're both unaware of the two glares they've garnered along with the many stares.

Derek frowns as he watches his ex-wife kiss his coworker. It's not so much that he's jealous as he is protective. Mostly.

Mark's fists clench as he watches the love of his life kissing some idiot. It's not so much that he's protective as he is jealous. Mostly.

* * *

**Hope you liked it! I'll try to post more soon.**

**-Juli-**


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